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User blog:BeastMan14/House of Horrors, Part 1: Amahl Farouk (Legion) vs Pennywise (It)
We kick off the month of spooks and scares with a clash between two monsters that feed off of fear and hatred in a fight that's sure to thrill! Watch from the edge of your seat as Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King of Morocco and the most fearsome mutant on the planet, ventures into the town of Derry to battle Pennywise, the ancient entity that fed upon children in the form of a clown! It'll be an all-out deathmatch as we compare the powers, wits, and killer instinct of these two demons to determine... WHO...IS...DEADLIEST??? Intro Amahl Farouk Once upon a time in the land of Morocco, there lived a cruel, wicked king, who tortured his subjects and ruled the land with an iron fist. This all changed when Amahl Farouk, a centuries old mutant, used his power to overthrow the king, sealing his mind within that of a monkey. Taking the name "The Shadow King", Farouk proved to be little better, living a life of utter hedonism and trapping the minds of any disloyal subjects within that of a mute child, until one day he received a psychic signal from Charles Xavier, a fellow telepath who was searching for any other mutants. Inviting him to Morocco under the guise of friendship, Farouk intended to lay a trap for Xavier and steal his powers, but Xavier saw through the ruse and engaged Farouk in an hours long duel on the Astral Plane before seemingly killing him. In reality, Farouk had narrowly survived the encounter, but was greatly weakened and forced to flee his mortal form. Vengeful at Xavier for ruining his kingdom, Amahl traveled to his family home and drove his wife Gabrielle to madness before possessing his son David, who Xavier was forced to give up for adoption out of fear for the boy's safety. While his body was taken by the monks of the Mi-Go Order, Farouk leeched off of David, slowly driving him insane by altering his memories and making him see hallucinations until David attempted suicide and was admitted into Clockworks Psychiatric Facility. At Clockworks, Farouk used David's inconsistent memory to make him perceive his fellow patient Lenny as his old friend Benny, enabling him to lure him into a false sense of trust after Lenny's death during David's escape. The Lenny disguise slowly wore down David as he trained at the mutant camp Summerland, leading him to snap and go on a rampage when Division 3 kidnapped his sister Amy. Fully in control of David, Farouk slaughtered Division 3 and forced Amy to reveal the truth of David's origins to him. When Farouk, in the form of the Devil with Yellow Eyes, attacked David's girlfriend Syd, David was able to take back control and create a fake Clockworks for everyone to live in, where "Lenny" acted as a therapist. When David saw through the ruse, Farouk sealed him deep within his own mind and prepared to murder the others, with his plan only foiled by the intervention of Oliver Bird, who turned the tables on him and isolated him in the same place he had put David. With the Shadow King sealed away, the Summerland group prepared to remove him from David permanently, but he made it clear to Syd he would kill David if the procedure were to happen. Syd, realizing he isn't lying, reluctantly allows herself to be possessed, and Farouk quickly switched from her to combat expert Kerry Loudermilk before finally taking over Oliver and escaping in the chaos. Now free, Farouk embarked on a worldwide search for his body, battling the alliance of Division 3 and Summerland and wiping out the last of the Mi-Go monks. David, after receiving a warning from a future Syd that Farouk was crucial to stopping the apocalypse, helped Farouk find his body, but finally ended the alliance after Farouk murdered Amy to bring Lenny back to life. While David set a plan in motion, Farouk manipulated both Syd and Oliver's wife Melanie into turning on him, showcasing the supposed hero's true colors when David violently tortured Oliver for information. With the heroes scattered and distracted, Farouk reclaimed his body and restored himself to his proper glory, taking part in a duel with David that nearly ended in his victory had it not been for Lenny, as part of David's plan activating a mutant nullifying soundwave. Before David could finish him off, Syd intervened, unable to trust him and aware that the foretold apocalypse is actually the result of Farouk's death at his hands. David, frustrated, wiped Syd's mind so she would love him again, but agreed to let Farouk stand trial. Knowing he would surely be executed if put on trial, Farouk was able to restore Syd's memory and reveal David's treachery to the rest of the team, forcing them to admit that he needed true psychiatric help. Heartbroken at the betrayal, David decides to fully bring out the apocalypse and escapes, and Farouk decides to fulfill his own destiny by stopping him, joining Division 3 as a reluctant ally. Pennywise An eons old eldritch being with no true name, It arrived on Earth in a comet, in what would eventually become Derry, Maine. Awakening every 27 years, It would awaken, killing and eating whatever lived above until it became satisfied and went back to hibernating. Over time, as people began to populate Derry, It's influence caused the inhabitants to become hateful and apathetic, turning a blind eye to the series of violent deaths and disappearances. Every cycle would begin with a violent crime or accident that left many dead, and at some point It began to take a preference towards the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. One tribe of Natives used the Ritual of Chud, a magical act that would supposedly contain It, but Pennywise easily overcame the spell and killed the natives responsible. In 1988, Pennywise's spree of violence would find some opposition when it killed and took the body of Georgie Denbrough, whose brother Bill began searching for alongside his friends Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Stan Uris. Ben Hanscom, the new kid in town, discovered the strange tragedies and violence in Derry and began to connect it back to Pennywise, working with the boys, Mike Hanlon and Beverly Marsh, a fellow outcast and mutual crush of both Ben and Bill. Deemed "The Losers", the group became the new targets for Pennywise, and they finally trace its lair to an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. The initial incursion failed, with Pennywise injuring Eddie and nearly killing the rest of the Losers, and the group would briefly fracture until Pennywise kidnapped Bev and brought her to his lair underground. While the remaining Losers returned to the house and defeated Henry Bowers, their bully who Pennywise had brainwashed into a minion to attack the group, Pennywise attempted to scare Bev into submission, but was forced to use the Dead Lights to render her catatonic. The group was able to snap Bev out of it and overcame their fears, forcing it to retreat and begin it's hibernation early, though they vowed to return and kill It for good when It awoke again. In 2016, Pennywise was awoken when a group of thugs beat Adrian Mellon and his boyfriend Don Hagarty before tossing Adrian over a bridge, where a waiting Pennywise killed him in front of Don. Mike, who stayed in town to keep his memories, calls the Losers back to Derry, though Stan commits suicide rather than face the clown again. Hoping that the Ritual of Chud would work if the group fully believed in it, Mike had everyone collect a token from their past and head back to Pennywise's lair. Despite the groups's full belief, the ritual fails again and Pennywise, now resembling it's true form of a giant spider, attacked them and forced Mike to admit the truth. Thrown into nightmarish traps, the Losers escape and battle Pennywise, with Eddie wounding it to save Richie from the Dead Lights and ending up impaled in the process. As he dies of his wounds, Eddie realizes that Pennywise needs fear to power itself, and the group stands up to It, insulting it until it shrinks into a small blob that Mike kills by tearing out it's heart, ending it's reign of terror and freeing Derry. Powers and Abilities Amahl Farouk *'Telepathy': Farouk's greatest power is his telepathy, and he is second in strength only to Charles Xavier. David was never able to defeat him in straight-up combat during any of their encounters, relying on tricks to defeat him in the desert and during their final battle in the past, and the omniscient Vermillion determined that any engagement with Farouk once he recovered his body would end in immediate defeat. He can easily invade and manipulate the minds of others and has learned to harness his telepathy in a wide variety of ways. **'Possession': Farouk's favorite trick and his method of survival following his "death" at the hands of Xavier, his telepathy enables him to plant his mind into other people and take control of them. People possessed by Farouk tend to gain yellow eyes, though David and Oliver didn't, and are left largely helpless to do anything as he takes control of their bodies and distorts their perception and memories. **'Astral Manipulation': Farouk is a master wielder of the Astral Plane, able to effortlessly assert his dominance over anywhere in the plane, such as when he usurped control of David's version of Clockworks or invaded his and Syd's private space. Oliver, another powerful psychic, was forced to trap himself in an ice cube far away from any other psychics just to stay away from him, and even needed a special suit just to avoid detection when he ventured to the fake Clockworks. His control over this environment enables him to affect those within it as well, as he was able to immobilize Syd and Kerry and crumple up Division 3 agent Walter into a ball, killing him in both the plane and the real world. **'Astral Projection': Farouk can also project himself into the real world, his preferred method of communication before he recovered his body. Using projection, he could take the forms of Lenny and Oliver to manipulate David and Melanie and was able to project others into the plane, such as David or Switch. **'Mental Sedation': Farouk is able to knock people out with his powers, and was able to effortlessly sedate Clark and multiple agents of Division 3 with a wave of his hand. **'Consciousness Absorption/Control': Farouk is able to absorb and effortlessly subjugate the consciousness of anyone he kills or possesses, as both Lenny and Oliver were trapped in a mental prison upon him taking control of Oliver's body. He can also plant a consciousness in other bodies, such as when he planted Lenny's mind into Amy's body or placed the mind of the previous king into a monkey. *'Reality Warper': Farouk's control over his mind translates into an ability to manipulate reality at will, often using it to set up mind games for his opponents. In a matter of days, he was able to build a massive labyrinth full of traps, video screens, and a minotaur. He's even powerful enough to resist efforts at weakening him, as Division 3's power dampening restraints only limited his strength, and was one of the few mutants who could battle the time-controlling Time Demons and eventually subjugate them to his will. **'Aura Generation': During his battle with David in Kerry's body, Farouk could generate an aura of energy that shielded him from harm. During the raid on Division 3, Farouk used this aura to deflect bullets fired at close-range. **'Matter Manipulation': Farouk's control over reality extends to the human body as well, and he's usually used this to instantly kill any humans he considers beneath him by either turning them to dust or things such as pigs or fish. He can even use this to affect mutant's abilities, like when he removed the Loudermilk twins ability to come back together. **'Teleportation': Amahl can use teleportation to appear anywhere or even bring other people with him, as he took Melanie out of Division 3 and to the desert with Oliver. *'Telekinesis': Farouk can move and control people or objects with his mind, such as throwing Clark out of the way during his escape from Summerland or when he hurled the power dampening tuning fork the Choke several miles away. **'Levitation': Farouk can float through the air by concentrating. *'Master Tactician/Manipulator': What truly makes Farouk dangerous is his expert understanding of people's deepest fears and insecurities, enabling him to play his enemies against one another, and his patience, as he was willing to wait decades just to be returned to his body. Using these skills have enabled him to become one of the most powerful people in the world, to the point where he was able to think his way out of a certain execution and turn the tables on David. Pennywise *'Telepathy': Pennywise appears to have some form of telepathy, capable of reading the emotions and memories of it's prey, alongside altering their attitudes and memories, like when it made all of the Losers save Mike forget their adventures. It can also outright speak to people's minds, as an adult Richie hears Pennywise speaking to him before he actually sees them. **'Mind Control': Pennywise is capable of controlling the minds and actions of people. Using this mind control Pennywise was able to effectively brainwash the adults of Derry into being both hateful and largely apathetic to the numerous deaths and accidents across town. It can also target specific people with this power, as it enthralled Henry Bowers into attacking the Losers and is heavily implied to have manipulated Bev's father into abusing her. **'Illusions': Pennywise has an utterly limitless ability to create illusions that seem completely real to the subject. The illusions are shown to have some sort of physical presence, as Pennywise carving letters into an adult Ben's stomach left him in pain until Bev smashed the mirror that Pennywise was appearing through, but can only be seen if Pennywise allows you to see them, as it's numerous tricks are only seen by the Losers. The illusions can be dispelled, but they require the viewer being fully aware of their nature as an illusion. *'Telekinesis': Pennywise can make inanimate objects move or activate without being touched, such as slamming a door or forcing a projector to go through slides when none of the Losers were touching it. *'Shapeshifting': As it has no true form, Pennywise can turn into anyone or anything it wants. These forms don't seem to adhere to any formal laws of physics or human understanding, as it could contort it's body to fit into a small fridge, though it takes on the physical limitations of whatever form it takes, as Eddie was able to overpower it in it's Leper disguise and the Losers forced it to retreat when it was in clown form and ultimately killed it by refusing to fear it anymore. It can also change specific body parts, like when it turned it's arms into pincers to attack the Losers or peeled back it's mouth to reveal rows upon rows of teeth. *'Invulnerability to Physical Harm': While not entirely invincible, Pennywise can't seem to be harmed by any form of traditional weapon, as Bev stabbing it through the face with an iron spike merely disoriented it and it instantly healed from Bill shooting it in the head with a cattle gun. This is owed to it's lack of any real physical form, meaning there's not to truly harm. *'Teleportation': Pennywise can teleport to anywhere in Derry, though it's incapable of leaving the town. It can even be in multiple places at once, as it stalked each of the Losers over the course of the day when they returned to Derry to take part in the ritual. *'Invisibility': Humans can only see Pennywise if it wants to be seen, as adults totally ignore it's attacks and it can easily stalk anyone who doesn't notice it. *'Superhuman Strength/Speed': Pennywise, even ignoring it's powers, is incredibly strong, capable of tearing human limbs off with ease and easily smashing through funhouse glass. It can also move quickly, attacking with lightning-quick speeds for maximum terror. *'Chlorokinesis': Pennywise's physical presence seems to have an effect on plant life, as it's house is surrounded by dead grass and trees, and it touches several plants and causes them to wither and die while it's in the form of the Leper. *'Spider Form': The closest thing to Pennywise's true form any human can percieve, Pennywise takes the form of a giant spider with Pennywise's head when it's in the lair beneath the house. In this form, Pennywise can still use the full variety of it's powers, but is also much larger, stronger, and faster, though he seems to lack the immunity to physical weapons, as Eddie was able to wound it with a makeshift spear by believing that it "killed monsters." *'Skilled Manipulator': Pennywise is expertly capable of manipulating it's prey, playing off of their fears and self-doubt to lure them into the perfect position for a kill or to maximize their fear. X-Factors Explanations *Both of these beings are much older than they appear, with Pennywise being eons old while Farouk has been active since at least the 1800s, but what gives Farouk the edge here is his greater variety of foes. While only two (the Xaviers) could ever truly match him, Farouk has been embroiled in a long battle other mutants, Division 3, and the Mi-Go monks. This version of Pennywise lacks it's battles with the beings of it's original universe, and it's only true foes are the Losers, people who fought and ultimately defeated it over the course of a relatively brief timespan. *Farouk, without a doubt, is a sociopath who has committed countless atrocities and evil deeds, but he does, very rarely, show moments of empathy or kindness, such as his painless mercy killing of a cancer-stricken Mi-Go monk after she gave him the location of his body or his apparently genuine paternal affection for David. He even seems to balk at killing children, as he allowed the psychic unit of Division 3 to flee rather than subjecting them to a quick death. Pennywise has absolutely no morals. It will kill and terrorize, feeding off of bigotry and hatred that it personally stokes, and children are it's prey of it's choice. *Both warriors use their powers for seemingly limitless ideas, from elaborate traps to personalized illusions to well-placed manipulations. *Farouk, for all of his power, is still inside the body of a relatively normal man that can be physically harmed. Without his powers, he was easily overpowered by, and entirely at the mercy of, David. Meanwhile, Pennywise is a terrifying physical force, capable of moving at fast speeds and easily tearing people apart like tissue paper alongside shrugging off mortal wounds with nothing more than a chuckle. Notes *Voting ends October 15th. *It will be set in Derry, Maine, with most of the battle in Pennywise's house. The story will be set in between the events of Legion seasons 2 and 3 and slightly before the events of It: Chapter 1. *Scenario: Following the disappearance of multiple Division 3 agents in Derry, Clark dispatches a reluctant Farouk to investigate, sending the Shadow King directly into the territory of the dancing clown. Category:Blog posts